Let The Few Bad Nuts Not Give The Police Service A Bad Name

In a spate of two weeks, the Ghana Police Service has come under intense pressure, following the unprofessional or unethical conducts of some of its personnel during the discharge of their duties.

Last week Tuesday, personnel from the SWAT Unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command opened fire and killed seven out of eight suspected robbers, who allegedly caused the death of one of their own, Lance Corporal Daniel Teiku, at Ayirebikrom near Manso Nkwanta on July 11.

Three days ago, a Police Officer, Frederick Amanor Skalla, who was on duty at one of the branches of the Midland Savings and Loans Bank, subjected a nursing mother who had gone to withdraw money from the bank to assault, slapping her like nobody’s business.

On Saturday, 14th July, 2018, a policeman guarding a bullion van mistakenly shot and killed the driver he was escorting from Koforidua to Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

From the above, it is crystal clear that some elements in the Police Service are giving the entire institution a bad name, and the earlier something was done about it, the better it would be for all of us.

The Chronicle is not happy that the Ghana Police Service, at a time like this, when Ghanaians are expecting higher standards of professionalism from our men and women in black, the actions and inactions of a few bad nuts are tarnishing the image of the law enforcement agency.

The paper believes that despite the fact that all these things are happening, there is still room for improvement from the men and women who have been protecting us from the dangers of armed robbers and other criminal elements who torment us day and night.

For us, it is unacceptable for members of the general public to tell the police in the face that the action of some of its personnel towards the people leaves much to be desired.

For example, three days after the police had shot and killed the seven suspected armed robbers, the youth in one of the Zongo communities in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, clashed with the police over the gory killings, saying they were (the suspected armed robbers) respected members of the community.

What this means to The Chronicle is that the police must back up in their way of maintaining law and order in this country by proving to all Ghanaians, with hard evidence, that, indeed, whatever decision they took was backed by proof.

It is for this reason that we are calling on the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration, and subsequent governments, to pay critical attention to the needs of the police to ensure that the Service gets all it needs to bring the professional standards of its personnel to date.

While congratulating this and previous administrations for doing what they could to resource the police, The Chronicle is of the view that much more could be done.

To begin with, politicians could stay away from pushing their children, nephews, nieces, girlfriends, boyfriends and what have you, down the throat of police recruiting officers because they are looking for employment for them.

Such conducts lead to twisting the arms of the Ghana Police Service to recruit people who do not have what it takes to don the black uniform to protect citizens of this great nation.

Politicians must allow the Ghana Police Service to run on professional lines, as is the case in developed countries, instead of politicising the institution.

Politicians must allow professionals in the sector to manage their own affairs, rather than appointing the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other high-ranking officers for the Service.

These actions of our policymakers have caused our police officers to become politicians, because, any officer who nurtures the ambition to become IGP one day, must himself become a politician.